The state commission consumer court on Monday passed an order directing well-known travel agency Cox & Kings Ltd to compensate 11 members of two Navy families over R2.3 lakh for giving them a terrible experience on their Europe trip
The state commission consumer court on Monday passed an order directing well-known travel agency Cox & Kings Ltd to compensate 11 members of two Navy families over Rs 2.3 lakh for giving them a terrible experience on their Europe trip.
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The families -- the Saxenas comprising Dr Vijay Saxena, his wife, son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren and the Mishras comprising Lt. Col Mishra, his wife and their children -- had signed up for an 11 day 10 night Europe tour with Cox and Kings. The complainants have stated in their petition they'd collectively deposited Rs 12,20,736 for the trip, which turned out to be a nightmare.
Representational Pic
Landing in London
The families have explained in their petition that the troubles began when they landed at London Airport on May 28, 2011. Their tour manager was changed and he didn't know any details about the trip, right from their accommodation to the places they were to be taken to. On day 2, the families only saw those places in London where the tourist bus went and weren't taken to the rest. That evening, they reached Paris, where their accommodation had not been booked. They even missed a gala evening and ended up catching only the Lido show. On the third day, their guide arrived so late that they had to cancel a visit to Park Asterix, which had been paid for. The next day, at Gstaad, no attention was paid to their meals and dinner.
Got food poisoning
In Gstaad, they couldn't go to the glaciers because everything was shut by the time they reached. Then, they didn't even get to go for a prepaid snow bus. The bad, inedible meals continued and some of the members even got food poisoning because of some cold and stale food. The most important monuments were either cut short or missed.
Cox & Kings Ltd in their written submissions to court has stated, "...in respect of missed places and inconvenience caused to the complainants, opponent was already ready to refund part of the amount to them." The agency has also claimed that some of the members of the complainants' group were rude and misbehaved with the tour manager. They said they had offered to pay 10 euros to each of them for the missed meals. As for the glacier, the agency is willing to refund 22 euros each.
Court says
Presiding Judicial member DR Shirasao and member AK Zade, state consumer disputes redressal commission, observed that apart from the refund, the complainants are entitled to get compensation because of inconveniences caused to them. The court has directed the agency to pay Rs 29,891 to the families along with other compensation which is Rs 25,000 each for eight members above the age of 10 and Rs 10,000 each for three children below the age of 10, plus Rs 10,000 in court fees.
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